"Yes. I know."
I said in a submissive tone without looking at Mother.
"First you nearly died in a dungeon! What did you do when you healed? Ran after monsters once again!"
I looked at Father. He shrugged, as if saying you are alone in this. So even him wouldn't save me from her. Just as I prepared myself to be chewed up, a knock filled my ears.
"Excuse me. Is this a bad moment?"
As if a shining ray of hope, Ayla appeared. She wore casual clothes and held an expensive looking cake in her hand.
"If it is not suitable for you, I can come back later?"
I straighten my body.
"You can come, Ayla. She is a hunter, like me. Well, except better. Ayla, those are my parents."
Mother looked at me. Then she looked at her. Her face slowly softened. While I was happy, smile she wore right now made me slightly worried.
"Of course you can come in."
Mother said with soft tone. Father shot me a mischievous smirk.
"I was given some extra cash for killing the boss. I was told that they were trying to reach to you."
"Yeah. I am not really in mood to talk to them so I just told them to just deposit it to my account. You should also be careful. If there is a carrot, there will be a stick. Even though we deserved to be paid for our job, things sometimes don't go like that. Never accept deals without thinking."
As Ayla nodded, Mother spoke up.
"Burak never mentioned you. When did you guys met?"
Oh, no. No. NO. I don't like that tone. Last time Mother used that tone, I couldn't look Leyla's eyes for a month! She was seeing her as a daughter in law candidate! She was going to make this so awkward! I needed to stop this discussion from going there! I cleared my throat.
"She is a one of the rookies I looked after in that incident. It is just happened to we met again. Since I knew how she fought, it was more suitable to fight besides her."
"I was just following his orders. If it wasn't for him, I would have already died, twice."
She bowed to my parents.
"So, I need to thank you for that- Ah."
She was pulled into a hug by Mother.
"You been through lot."
Ayla seemed suprised. She looked at me, as if to except me to say something. I only nodded and smiled. Not like Mother would let her go without giving her motherly love. Seeing my reaction, she also hugged back. While I watched that touching scene, I heard Father clear his throat.
"Should I get something to slice the cake?"
I facepalmed. While my hand covered my face, I heard a loud smacking noise. Good job, Mother. I pulled my arm from my face. We ate the cake, in mostly awkward silence. Only Father's cringe filled jokes broke the silence. Needless the say, they were bad.
"Do you want more, Burak?"
"No. Give it to Ayla. She is the one brought it, after all."
Ayla shook her hands.
"I shouldn't eat much. We need to be top shape, after all."
Hearing her copy my way of speech, Father shot me another smirk. Ayla on other hand , didn't seemed to notice it.
"You are still maturing. A little bit extra calories wouldn't matter that much."
I said.
"You are the one to talk?"
Father asked to me. I tilted my head.
"I am already an adult."
"Hell you are!"
"I am 18."
"You can be 60 and you still will be a child to us!"
Mother also took a shot at me. They couldn't stop embarrassing me, even with my junior present.
"He is always like this. If there is something, he would always try to give them to others."
"I know. When we were in dungeon, he also gave me f- I am sorry."
"Hm?"
"You… Didn't realize?"
"What?"
"He does that."
Mother said.
"What happened?"
I asked.
"What did I do?"
"When that time is mentioned, you touch your eye. Nearly all the time."
Oh. So that was it.
"Sometimes, it just feels itchy."
I didn't said painful to not worry them.
"Sir, you started fighting earlier than me. Did you ever went to a psychiatrist?"
"No. Why would I?"
"Fighting can create burdens. Maybe if you get profe-"
"I am okay. My mental health is okay."
"I have some-"
"I said I am fine."
I clutched my head.
"My head feels a little bit heavy. If you don't have anything else, I would like to rest. Alone."
I basically chased them away. I was fine. I was always fine. I was trained to be a warrior. Fight, kill, get wounded and die. They are my nature. I am okay. For another person, it was just straight up a terrific way of thinking. Yet, for me it was normal. Only shape I could exist. What I lived for.
"Can I be alone, for a minute, please!"
I said the nurse coming to room without knocking. She held a phone in her hand and she didn't reacted my complaint. The look in her eyes told me one thing: hypnosis. I took the phone out of her hand. I thought Elizabeth would want check of her precious "pet". Yet with a phone? I expected some kind of magic. I first checked the number. Unknown caller. Should have guessed. I put the phone in my ear.
"Hello."
"Hello, fledging vampire."
What the fuck? It wasn't Elizabeth. An old man's voice rang in my ear. What's worse, he knew I was a vampire. Since he used hypnosis, he was probably one too. Still, I wasn't going to just accept it.
"A prank call. If you don't have anything amusing to say, I am ending this call."
I kept my voice as stoic as possible. Despite that I heard a bone chilling laugh.
"Young one. If you disrespect me, I will kill your parents."
I felt my blood froze.